Race Recap... Missouri State Championships

Hey Gang,

I'm still on vacation but it turns out they have the internet in Tennessee so i decided to do a post. So here it is, my race recap for the Missouri State Champ's Road Race.

Race Recap: So the race starts and it's hot. Probably 80 to 85 degrees. i'm one of about 75 in the cat 5 race. It was not a good race for me.

In the first ten minutes i managed to do drop a water bottle, whoops, plus it was the one with the drink mix, leaving me with one small bottle containing water only. i waved goodbye to the bottle (literally) and soldiered on. As the race progressed things were going pretty well, i was having no trouble riding at the front and was in the top three at the top of the first hill (i counted 3 'hills' total but the whole course was rolling... very fun, too)

It was at the top of the second hill that things went pear shaped. At this point we're probably 20 miles into the 35 mile race. This hill was longer than the first but i was still riding well, spinning quickly in the little ring and sitting in the top ten. As we neared the top i shifted up to the big ring and the chain got stuck. F*ck! This happened before in another race and it's a bitch to get back on. For some reason you cant fix it by just down shifting and up shifting again, i tried anyway but it was hopeless, so i had to get off the bike. For about 15 seconds i just stood there defeated as rider after rider passed me. Then i quit my pouting and reached down to put the chain on. It went on surprisingly easy and i felt stupid for throwing my little pity party instead of fixing the problem immediately. By the time i was back on the bike the 'broom wagon' was right on my ass, meaning i was now in dead last.

So now i'm in the drop's and hammering it, well, hammering it as much as a cat 5 who likes to party can hammer. But i felt good, passing people left and right and hoping i'd catch the group. Then i hit the last hill, it was the biggest. About halfway up i had to dial it down before i blew up. i hit the top and still had the juice to ramp up the speed. i hooked up with another guy who was still looking for action and the two of us ping ponged it for about 5 miles. By this point the group was long gone but i still wanted to go hard all the way to the end. After all, it is a race.

Unfortunately the plan of going hard to the end hit a snag when we missed a turn, then 'the end' became father away than it was supposed to be. Given everything that had already happened... dropped bottle, dropped chain, missed turn, i soft pedaled into the finish. i was upset but not totally pissed. At least i felt good physically and i think i could have done well... i just need to get the rest of my s*it together.

So that was it. i think i finished in 49 place.

Besides myself the team had a good crew show up and they rode pretty well. This sport is becoming more and more fun.

Okay, back to vacation for me.

Adios,